As a travelling musician, I spend a fair bit of time on the road, and the possibilities such a lifestyle brings – a new bed every night, new friends every evening (hopefully) – makes it an obvious scenario in which to place a novel. Character not working? Leave them in the gas station. Need some light relief? Meet a politician in the lavatories of the next Costa. So it’s no surprise that road trips have been used as a storytelling device for such a long time. My new novel, The Book of the Gaels joins this long tradition of road novels (although I didn’t think of it as such while it was being written), which has made me look back at the sub-genre with some interest.
Of course, a definitive Top 10 road novels is almost an impossible feat for one person, for who am I to say which grand works should be on such a mighty list? (I have no desire to revisit On the Road, which I read in my youth, for instance, although it might be interesting to see if I read it now with a less dismissive shrug.) So I’m depending on other readers to expand on my choices in the comments below.
